Cold Weather Cocktails

Everyone knows what’s on the list of summer drinks. Beer, G&Ts, rum punch, the classic margarita, even an ice-cold martini on a hot night is appropriately included on that list. But what to do when the days grow short and there is a nip in the air, or my favorite, that beautiful rime on the grass in the early morning? That is my signal to break out the dark liquors and start mixing more complex drinks. And that’s not strictly true, because I also drink them during the summer, but they certainly seem more appropriate when it’s dark out.

In no particular order (and obviously this is an incomplete list) I would consider the following to be classic winter drinks.

The Manhattan
Old FashionedSazerac (Yeah, this is weird. It comes from New Orleans, where it is never wintery)Anything with bourbonSingle Malt Scotch

Notice there are no warmed drinks, and drinks with coffee, or egg nog or any of the weird holiday drinks that people have once and then ignore for 11 months and 29 days. While some of them may be pleasant at a Christmas party or after an afternoon spent shoveling the driveway, they aren’t drinks that can be contemplated and refined and relished as part of one’s life.

5 Replies to “Cold Weather Cocktails”

had some Basil Hayden in my cabinet, and enjoyed some of that the other night, with a splash of water.

then, on a weekend trip to my parents’ (who are not big drinkers), we went rummaging through their liquor cabinet, which has stuff that was bottled in the 80’s, and saw a bottle of Basil Hayden. So I started in on that. Then I realized that their bottle was about 127 proof! The stuff I have is 80 proof.